


Time In A Shoebox

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Yugioh Advent 2018 [4]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Bittersweet, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Memories, Time - Freeform, Time Passing, Travel, yugioh advent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 17:49:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16858576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: What starts as a mission to find his shoes soon leads Atem to make a much bigger discovery- namely, the keepsake box that Yugi has been keeping since they met





	Time In A Shoebox

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4 of Yugioh Advent 2018- "Time"
> 
> I actually wanted to make it a little bit more about the fact that Atem and Yugi were going to be late for the trip but the keepsake box became too cute of an idea and so I spent more time on that

_"Atem! Are you ready to go?"_

"Ah... almost!! I just need to find my shoes!"

Atem would never understand how things were always getting lost when the house really wasn't all that big...

It wasn't as though he and Yugi had alot of stuff to begin with, a moderate amount he supposed but with the amount of things they lose and the amount of times they get lost it felt as if they were living in a mansion or something

As it were now, he was looking for his flip-flops, wich ... really shouldn't be such a difficult thing to find, and yet....

Sighing quietly in frustration, he leaned a little bit further into the closet, reaching around for the shoes and wrinkling his nose as his hand hit against a small box

Huh... it felt... like a shoe box...

Maybe Yugi had put them in here or something, his boyfreind was honestly quite a bit more organized than he was, so it wouldn't really surprise him if that were the case

Shifting a little bit more, he pulled the box out, immediately flipping the lid off and finding himself... confused...

It definitely wasn't shoes that he found inside, but he couldn't quite identify what it was that he _did_ find

It was alot of things actually, ranging from ticket stubs to receipts, wilted flower petals and a broken necklace, birthday cards and photographs, among other things

Upon looking through the box a little bit further though, he finally started to connect the dots

These weren't just random peices of junk, they were peices of history

_Their_ history

He and Yugi had been together for a little over a year now, and Atem had been back in the living world for just as long

The contents of this box were all things that had come from that time, things that were important to them- the ticket stubs from their first movie together, the receipt for Atem's first birthday cake, the petals from the bouquet that Atem had given him on their first Valentine's Day, the cheap necklace Atem had thought was too beautifull to mind the quality of and had given Yugi anyway...

Cards from and for both of them, photos Atem hadn't realized Yugi had taken- or that other people had taken of the two of them

And beneath all of that, he could find little scraps of their years together before, back when Atem was still in the puzzle

The blank card he had used to duel Pegasus with, his locator cards from Battle City, a die from Duke's game shop- an original die, at that, first edition, the chain he had hung the puzzle from....

Atem's throat felt dry, and he was suddenly feeling significantly less happy going through the box

Not that he didn't enjoy reliving their memories but it was starting to really hit him now, how long it had been, how much had changed, the last five or so years sat here in a box and it was a little too surreal for someone who had spent the majority of their existence trapped inside of a necklace

Everything was so different now- for the better, don't get him wrong, but it was still so odd, looking back on it all and trying to remember that five years had gone by...

He wasn't actually sure if the time felt like longer or shorter but five years just didn't seem to fit in his head

"Atem?"

Blinking, the pharaoh glanced up, turning his attention towards the door where his partner was currently standing, an expectant look on his face

"Did you find your shoes?"

Ah.....

It was best he not bring any of this up

Time was a strange and sensitive issue between the two of them, it was oddly uncomfortable for them both, acknowledging time passed or time passing or anything of the sort

It was often a painfull reminder of just how short life was, and that caused them both some anxiety

For Yugi, the increasingly vivid realization that his grandfather was aging more and more quickly, combined with the everlasting fear that Atem's life was only temporary, and for Atem, the creeping concern that- like in his last attempt at life- he would die before accomplishing the things he really wanted from life, combined with the terrifying acknowledgement that mortality was at hand for all of his loved ones in the living world, and though he personally had no qualms with death, he felt ill even breifly thinking of losing another loved one before passing on himself

And after he had just come back from Aaru....

"Atem? Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine aibou, I'm sorry, I just.... zoned out," he promised softly, pushing the shoebox- the memory box- back into the closet, lid safely back on, and rising to his feet

"Come, let's go on, Kaiba will be here soon and won't be pleased if we're late,"

Yugi looked severely unhappy, wich wasn't a good sign for Atem

"Are you _sure_ you're ok?" his smaller partner asked suspiciously- though, he had grown alot in the last five years, he wasn't nearly as small as he used to be

"I'm sure," the pharaoh promised, leaning down and giving his beloved a tight, squeezing hug

"Atem... you're acting stranger than usual, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, really, I just.... heard a sad song, that's all,"

Luckily, Yugi seemed to believe that

Atem was pretty prone to- as Joey put it- Catching The Sad when he got ahold of music or TV or books that weren't exactly uplifting, everyone was used to his media-induced mood drops by now

"Oh sweetie... it's ok, you'll forget about it soon, I gurantee you Joey is going to be blasting the hell out of Christmas music the entire way to the jet, Kaiba's going to kill him,"

Now that actually brought a laugh from the pharaoh, a small smile on his face as he nuzzled into Yugi's shoulder

"Mm, yes... you're right darling,"

"Now let's find your shoes ok? You're not going to the beach in heels or boots _again_ ,"

Atem gave another soft smile, nodding as he allowed his lover to take a step back and start towards the closet once again

He shifted a little on his feet, reaching into his pocket just for security and feeling a small wave of releif pass over him as his fingers skimmed against the small velvet box in his pocket

Time and change were inevitable facets of life, hell they were even inevitable facets of the afterlife, but...

They weren't all bad

There was a very big change coming their way, during this little Christmas vacation to the tropics- courtesy of Kaiba Corp and their business trip

If Atem had anything to say about it, Kaiba Corp wasn't going to be the only one leaving Hawaii with a massive change on the books

Yugi just didn't know it yet


End file.
